Valley Insider: Pickens provides Bears a big boost

1:20 AM,
Sep. 18, 2013

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Know that feeling when you find a $20 bill stuffed in the pocket of an old pair of pants? Missouri State coach Paul Lusk got a similar, feel-good surprise a while back.

Last we saw of Keith Pickens, one of the most-dogged competitors in Bears' basketball history, he was taking bows after a hard-fought loss to Wichita State at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. His twice-surgically repaired right knee ached. His hip hurt. Playing extended minutes was an ordeal. Practicing was impossible.

So the junior called it quits with a year's eligibility remaining. And Lusk planned for life ...